Bentley hopes Canvey’s win at Basildon will be the turning point

Mark Bentley hopes Canvey Island’s win at Basildon United will be the turning point

CANVEY Island boss Mark Bentley hopes the comfortable 4-1 win over Basildon United will prove to be the turning point in his side’s season.

The Gulls were widely tipped as contenders for promotion from the Isthmian North at the start of the campaign, but a managerial change - which saw Bentley replace Danny Heale at the helm - and inconsistent form has resulted in Canvey languishing in mid-table.

However, Bentley is eager for the Gulls to be more consistent and is hoping for his side to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time this term when Mildenhall Town visit the Frost Hire Stadium.

The former Southend United midfielder said: “I’m really positive, but now what reaction do we get?

“We’re playing Mildenhall who are below us in the league.

“They’re a side like Soham and Witham who are below us as well, and what side am I going to get? And that’s down to them.

“I’m not going to set them up any differently, I’ll encourage them to play and do the right things and once they step over the line it’s down to them.

“We need to put back-to-back victories together and that’s the key message.”

Bentley has also hinted that Martin Tuohy may not remain on penalty-taking duties after missing from the spot at Basildon.

But the Gulls chief was relieved that the miss did not result in his side missing out on much-needed points.

“There was a little bit of dread after Martin missed because we haven’t had that luck in front of goal at the moment,” added Bentley.

“Tuohy missed but he scored one the other week so I’m always confident when he steps up.

“The penalty could have killed the game off earlier but, luckily, we did score quite quickly after that so it didn’t affect it.

“But I might be in the hunt for a penalty taker.”

Canvey have now won their last three away fixtures and Bentley was pleased to see his side recover after conceding a sloppy equaliser.

“I was disappointed that it was 1-1 at half-time as we dominated for the first half hour, admitted Bentley.

“We didn’t get the second goal, and then gave away a sloppy goal through our own error so I just tried to keep them upbeat and remain positive.”

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